I have a simple solution for the Mono fans, why doesn't Novell get MS to clarify the licensing requirements for the .NET IP? This will settle the issue once and for all.

Beacuse its in MS's interest to keep quiet on the issue as they then win.

EG on the one hand, MS get to claim .Net is multiplatform and that there is no vendor lock-in whilst on the other, they let Linux tear itself appart over the patent issues such that mono is not widely used and therefore cannot seriously threaten their monopoly. They can also mutter the word "patent" to create enough FUD to terrorise businesses into not using mono.

Why let MS win?

Mono is a very useful piece of technology and while we can be cautious about its use in Gnome, I see no reason not to take advantage of it in other areas. There are no issues with the core c# and in the EU software patents are dead so i say go do the entire .net stack and make MS squirm.